Narrative Desire and the Book of Ruth
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
DO NOT PRESS ME TO LEAVE YOU: NARRATIVE DESIRE AND THE BOOK OF RUTH A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Division of Religion, Drew University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Committee Chair: Dr. Danna Nolan Fewell, John Fletcher Hurst Professor of Hebrew Bible Stephanie Day Powell Drew University Madison, New Jersey April 2015 Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv “Hymn to Her” v Introduction: ”A Story I Do Not Trust” 1 1 The Book of Ruth and Narrative Desire 31 2 Resistance: Ambiguity and Artistry in the Book of Ruth 65 3 Rupture: Ruth and Fried Green Tomatoes 109 4 Reclamation: Ruth and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit 136 5 Re-Engagement: Ruth and Golem, The Spirit of Exile 181 Conclusion: (Un)final Gleanings 214 Bibliography 228 Abstract The post-exilic book of Ruth is celebrated by queer and feminist scholars for its ostensibly affirmative depiction of woman-identified, erotic love. Yet, while the story foregrounds an interethnic, female partnership, the patriarchal and heteronormative institutions of marriage, motherhood and nation are all reinforced at the narrative’s conclusion. Moreover, Ruth is one of the most ambiguous books in the Hebrew Bible, rendering the relationship between its female characters exceedingly complex. How then should woman-identified readers approach Ruth, a book that appears to exploit the very woman-identified relationships they seek to lift up in order to reinscribe the very invisibility they seek to overcome? With these matters in mind, this dissertation offers a critical paradigm for reading Ruth through the lens of “narrative desire.” Steeped principally in the ideas of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, narrative desire brings together insights from narratology, feminist theory, psychoanalytic theory, philosophical studies and queer theory. As an interdisciplinary way of reading, narrative desire provides a versatile approach to indeterminate texts, highlighting the erotic interplay between a narrative’s structure and content, and the reader’s response. Through exegetical analyses with several contemporary intertexts, I investigate the workings of desires that shape the text’s formation and its reception and trace ways of negotiating the book of Ruth that deny, limit or affirm the subjectivity of woman-identified readers. Deryn Guest’s principles of lesbian-identified hermeneutics form the methodological backdrop for my exegesis. Drawing on the principles of resistance and rupture , I read Ruth alongside Fanny Flagg’s novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café and John Avnet’s film adaptation, Fried Green Tomatoes , in order to interrogate the ambiguity that shapes Ruth and Naomi’s relationship and to uncover what Leah Ceccarelli calls “strategic ambiguity,” a ii form of polysemy intended to appeal to divergent audiences. Next, I offer a reclamation of the text, drawing on Jeanette Winterson’s treatment of the relationship between a lesbian daughter and her mother in the novel Oranges are Not the Only Fruit to argue for an alternative interpretation of the character of Ruth as a woman-identified daughter in search of both autonomy and ongoing connection to “the mother’s house.” Finally, I turn to the critical question of re-engagement . Reading Ruth alongside Amos Gitaї’s film Golem, The Spirit of Exile , I examine the hidden presence of heterosexual and racial melancholia, terms coined by Judith Butler and Anne Anlin Cheng, David Eng and Shinhee Han respectively. Shedding light on the forestalled grief that attends the exilic experience and shapes the thwarted eroticism between Ruth and Naomi, one discovers a history of loss that continues to touch readers in the present. Drawing historical gleanings from each of these readings, I conclude that an expanded woman- identified perspective on Ruth is both viable and crucial to understanding the complex negotiations of identity and communal boundaries in the ancient context of Yehud. iii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the exemplary scholarship, meticulous critique and continuous support of my advisor, Danna Nolan Fewell. Deep gratitude to Kenneth Ngwa and Althea Spencer-Miller for careful reading and critical feedback. I wish to express appreciation to the class members of the 2011 Ruth Seminar and to my professors and colleagues within the Graduate Division of Religion for your insightful questions, helpful critique and guidance along the way. Particular thanks to Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, Arthur Pressley, Midori Hartman, Amy Beth Jones and Paige Rawson for talking through ideas with me, and to Amy, Paige, Elizabeth Freese and James Hoke for editing drafts. Portions of the dissertation also appear in an essay co-authored with Amy Beth Jones and Dong Sung Kim, “Reading Ruth, Reading Desire,” forthcoming in Danna Nolan Fewell, ed., The Oxford Handbook to Biblical Narrative , Oxford University Press. In certain instances, I have footnoted or directly cited the essay. I am indebted to Amy Beth and Dong Sung for important exegetical and theoretical insights without which my work would be left wanting. I would not have embarked upon this journey without the mentorship and support of Ken Stone, Laurel Schneider and Ruth Sandberg. I am grateful for your affirmation and guidance. Special thanks to Jocelyn Emerson for your loving support from the beginning. My gratitude to the members of the women’s spirituality group at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital for holding Ruth up to the light again and again. I am indebted to the McAllister family for encouragement and endless hours of child care. Affection and thanks to Sonny McAllister for keeping me anchored with your humor and your curiosity and for always making sure that I die a perfectly tragic death at the end of every story. My warmest love to mi media naranja , Lisa McAllister, for your enthusiasm for my work and your unwavering support in my moments of self-doubt. This project is dedicated to you. Finally, all my affection and gratitude to my mother, Sheila Day Powell, and my aunt Lynda Day Conner, the Ruth and Naomi of our time. iv “Hymn to Her” Let me inside you Keep beckoning to me Into your room From behind that closed door I've heard it's lined The maid and the mother With the things you don't show And the crone that's grown old Lay me beside you Down on the floor I hear your voice I've been your lover Coming out of that hole From the womb to the tomb I listen to you I dress as your daughter And I want some more When the moon becomes round I listen to you You be my mother And I want some more When everything's gone And she will always carry on And she will always carry on Something is lost Something is lost But something is found But something is found They will keep on speaking her name They will keep on speaking her name Some things change Some things change Some stay the same Some stay the same - Meg Keene v Introduction “A Story I Do Not Trust” “What appears at first sight to be a little piece of harmless entertainment may turn out to contain insights which will change our consciousness.” - Jack Priestly 1 “All right, but first I want to say it’s a story I do not trust. ” - “Becky” 2 In fiction writer Norma Rosen’s short piece “Dialogue on Devotion,” she portrays an imaginary meeting of the “facetiously acronymed WGTDTB: Women Gathered to Deplore the Bible.”3 On this particular night, the women convene to discuss the merits and dangers of the selfless acts of devotion portrayed in the book of Ruth. Like Jacob wrestling with the angel, the women struggle with the text, resisting it and at the same time holding it close in order to extract a blessing. Frustrated by what appears to be the manipulation of female characters toward patriarchal ends, the women nonetheless marvel at the story’s staying power. As the untrustworthy Becky admits, “The whole world takes this story to its heart.” 4 For centuries the book of Ruth has been heralded as a tale of two courageous women, the Moabite Ruth and her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi, who work together to make a better life for themselves in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. As widows with no monetary power or men to speak for them, they are forced to creatively subvert the economic and legal systems of their day in order to survive. Today readers continue to return to this story for inspiration and 1 Jack Priestly,"Concepts with Blurred Edges: Story and the Religious Imagination," Religious Education 78, no. 3 (Summer 1983): 383-384. 2 Norma Rosen, "Dialogue on Devotion," in Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story, eds. Judith A. Kates and Gail Twersky Reimer (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994), 349. 3 Ibid., 347. 4 Ibid., 349. sustenance. Women in particular recognize the bonds of love connecting daughters, mothers and lovers that exist between Ruth, Naomi and her kinsman Boaz. The exceptional loving-kindness (the Hebrew concept of ḥesed ) each one ostensibly shows to the others remains a model for living and a source of strength for the oppressed. And yet for some the story is also deeply dissatisfying. As Jewish scholar and rabbi Vanessa L. Ochs observes, there are many “glitches” that are overlooked in standard interpretations of Ruth, glitches that, as a young reader of Torah, she was taught to bypass in order to “smooth away the irritants and restore happy coherence to the original text.” 5 Feminist interpreters in particular have encouraged readers to take a second look at the unsettling aspects of the text and interrogate previous scholarly presumptions. Does Naomi sincerely reciprocate Ruth’s devotion despite Naomi’s many silences? Is Ruth fully accepted into the community by the end of the story given the narrator’s preoccupation with her foreignness? If Boaz knows Ruth is in need, why does he wait until she risks everything on the threshing floor before agreeing to redeem her? What becomes of Ruth after she gives her son over to Naomi and no longer speaks? The question of how we might begin to adjudicate such matters will soon take up our attention.